For Blue Skies
by SammmmanthaJ
Summary: TOKH Kim has done something terrible, and is lost because of it. Can she overcome her own monster, or will she need help? And will anyone even be willing to help?


**A/N: Okay, so not only is the my first Power Ranger's fic, but probably my first fic EVER, since I found it on an old hard drive of mine. I haven't watched PR in years, nor written about them, but I found this piece of drivel and decided that it didn't completely suck. In fact, it kind of made me sad reading it. This is still my favorite song, and I have probably written a zillion fics regarding it, but this one might be my favorite. Anyway, please be kind in regards to it, as it is probably a year or more old. Enjoy (:**

**Oh, and if you think it needs a follow-up, let me know. I did find myself feeling slightly disappointed in the ending.**

She sat, sobbing, at the foot of the bed. The television was on with the volume turned down, the news playing repeated footage of the scene. She couldn't bring herself to turn it off, yet knowing she was torturing herself by leaving it on. Every now and then, her sobs would subside, only to be brought on once more with another glance at the TV. Everything had changed.

-

The familiar beeping of his communicator brought Tommy out of an intensely focused work out session. He replaced the weights to their original position, wiped his brow and headed for just outside the door to the Youth Center. He tapped his communicator and brought it close to his mouth.

"I read you, Zordon."

"We have a situation. Please teleport immediately." Zordon's voice boomed out.

"Do you want me to get the others?" He glanced inside where he could see Billy, Rocky, Adam, Katherine and Aisha talking animatedly with Jason, Trini and Zack. The latter had just arrived into town a few days ago, back from the Peace Conference in Switzerland. While Tommy was glad they had returned, it only brought back memories of Kimberly for him, and he was pushing himself to work harder than ever in his work out sessions in order to keep his mind off of her.

"It won't be necessary." Zordon replied, and with a curt nod, even though he couldn't be seen, Tommy teleported to the Command Center.

-

"What's the situation, Zordon?" Tommy questioned as soon as his feet were firmly in the Command Center. He knew it couldn't have been that bad, as he was the only one called.

"Kimberly is in trouble."

With those four words, Tommy felt his heart drop to his stomach. He was trying so hard not to think about her, so hard not to feel anything towards her, but the second he thought she was in danger, he was raring to go save her. _Pathetic_, he told himself.

"What? Why?" Kimberly didn't possess powers anymore, he wasn't sure why she would be targeted by any monster. "Is it a monster?" He added as an afterthought.

"No monster but her own." Zordon answered cryptically.

"Wh...what are you talking about? I don't understand."

"Please direct your attention to the viewing globe."

Tommy turned to the cloudy orb as a picture started to come into focus. It was Kimberly, crying her heart out, looking pitiful. Tommy's heart ached, he wanted to make everything all better for her, but he knew that time had gone.

"I'm not sure if I'm the one to help, Zordon," Tommy said. "Jason's back in town, I'm sure he'd be better suited to deal with her..."

"It has to be you, Tommy." Tommy sighed.

"Even if it _has_ to be me, how? She's all the way in Florida." Not getting a response from Zordon, he continued. "Right?"

"No, she is not. She is in Angel Grove as we speak, at the Angel Grove Hotel."

Tommy almost gasped in surprise at this. He inched towards the viewing globe, reaching out and tracing the picture of Kimberly crying. After all that had happened, he was convinced he wasn't going to see her for a few years, but now, knowing that she was in the same state as him, the same _town_, he almost couldn't take it. It was only two months after The Letter, and Tommy was not emotionally prepared to deal with Kimberly.

"What happened?" Tommy whispered, almost to himself.

"Kimberly has done what no other Ranger has ever done, Tommy. The effects are devastating, as you can see." Zordon's voice was mournful, Tommy recognized that. He knew that Zordon had always had a special place in his heart for the first Pink Ranger.

"What'd she do?" Tommy asked, somewhat hesitantly. He almost didn't want to know.

"She took another human's life."

Zordon's words sounded foreign to Tommy. He shook his head and backed away from the viewing globe, giving all his attention to Zordon.

"What do you mean she '_took another human's life'_? As in, she **killed** someone, Zordon? That's impossible. You know Kimberly just as well as I do, maybe even better," Tommy mumbled bitterly. "She wouldn't kill anyone, Zordon. She couldn't. She doesn't even have her powers anymore."

"She did not kill using her powers. She did not kill out of vengeance, malice, or spite. She killed in the defense of another."

"She saved someone?" Tommy asked, somewhat in awe.

"Yes, Tommy. Kimberly saved her friend from an awful fate."

Tommy turned to the viewing globe once more, watching a terrible scene play out in front of him. It was a couple, a girl and a man, walking down a street at night. The man was getting more and more angered, finally culminating in him beating the girl in the middle of the street. In came Kimberly.

Tommy couldn't help but smile when he saw Kimberly run down the street, ripping the man off the woman, tossing him to the side as if he wasn't one hundred pounds heavier than she. She was trying desperately to comfort the woman, who was shaking and crying.

_"It's okay, it's okay. Everything's going to be okay, I'll get you out of here, I promise." _Kimberly's words filtered out to Tommy's ears, soothing him. He watched in horror at what happened next. The man had gotten up and had kicked Kim as she was crouching down next to the woman, comforting her. Tommy watched in agony as Kim got kicked around by the man, never getting a chance to breathe and regain her strength, or a chance to at least deliver a few punches of her own. The man was eventually satisfied with Kim being immobile, and he relented, making his way back to his original prey.

He had pushed the woman to the ground and placed his hands around her throat, intent on choking her. Kimberly staggered to get up, feeling pain she had never felt before, yet made her way to the struggling woman. She began to fight the man again, forcing him to stop choking the woman. Just when Tommy was about to shout out, as the man was atop of Kimberly, about to give her the same fate he was planning on administering to the other woman, Kimberly gave a shout, and kicked up, sending her assailant flying backwards, into a fence and on to the ground. She crawled over to where the other woman lay, unconscious yet alive, and checked her pulse. She then made her way to the man, about to check his pulse when she noticed blood down the side of his neck. She rolled the man onto his back and found that a piece of the wooden picket fence had embedded itself into his head. She flipped him back over and found sightless eyes staring back at her. She had killed him.

The viewing globe dimmed at this, causing Tommy to turn around once more.

"What happened afterwards? Did she get arrested? Is the other woman alright?"

"Kimberly was arrested, but released with the testimony of the other victim, who is doing fine as well."

"When did this happen, Zordon?" Tommy would hate to think that this happened pre-Letter, and he had no idea of it.

"About a week ago, Tommy. Since then, Kimberly has dropped out of the Pan Globals and come back to Angel Grove, for reasons unknown. She had made no move to contact Rangers nor her own parents. I fear for her well being."

Tommy was torn as he thought back on the images of Kimberly crying in her hotel room, unable to move. But he also was quite sure that he wasn't the one to help her.

"I'm just not sure I'll be able to help, Zordon. Kimberly and I aren't together anymore, and I feel like I might make the situation worse."

"You two are connected, Tommy. There is a prophecy you two must fulfill, and I myself had feared that it would not come to pass. You are the one she needs, Tommy."

"What do I do?" Tommy asked earnestly.

"You must do what she cannot. Go, now, White Ranger."

Bewildered by what Zordon had asked him to do, Tommy just shook his head slightly, and was gone in a flash of white light.

-

_It's been a long year since we last spoke_

_How's your halo?_

He teleported into Kimberly's hotel room, and somehow, seeing Kimberly in person was so much worse than seeing it on the viewing globe. She was huddled in a ball at the end of the bed, crying her heart out, watching the news on TV. He quickly realized it was not a live feed, as she had a remote controller in her hand, and would use it to rewind every so often, so that one picture would flash on the screen, with the words below it reading: LOCAL MAN KILLED.

"Stop torturing yourself, Kim." Tommy's soft voice startled her so that she jerked upright, her tears halted.

"What are you doing here?" She whispered, awed by his appearance.

"Zordon said you were in trouble." He answered, deliberately vague.

She stared at him for what seemed like decades before returning her focus to the TV. Tommy wasn't sure she was even going to say anything, when...

"I killed him." Her voice was so soft, Tommy wasn't sure if he had heard her.

He stepped closer, stopping when he got to the foot of the bed and sat down next to her, willing to listen, not talk.

"He had a family, you know." Kimberly looked up from the TV and into Tommy's eyes. "He was divorced, but he had a little girl. I saw pictures... she looked like him."

"You need to not focus on this right now, Kim." Tommy spoke softly, trying to convince her, but she just continued on.

"He owned a local arcade. The younger gymnasts would go there a lot. He was like our Ernie, Tommy." Tears filled up her eyes once more. "And I killed him."

"You're not the one to blame, Kimberly." Tommy said in a stern voice, hoping to force her to listen to him. Instead, she shook her head vehemently.

"I _killed_ him, Tommy! I'm a former Power Ranger, and I took someone's life!"

"You didn't do it on purpose, Kim! How were you supposed to know that the fence would be broken? You _couldn't_ have known what was going to happen!" Tommy was quickly getting frustrated. He knew it wasn't her fault, but how was he supposed to convince her of that?

Kimberly's tears slowed their descent and she looked down at the floor between her legs. She remained silent for another long period of time, before speaking without looking up.

"You...you know how if a boxer were to hit a guy, he'd be charged with assault with a deadly weapon? Because his training made him dangerous?" Tommy nodded, unsure of where this was going. She raised her eyes to his once more. "Shouldn't that apply to Power Rangers, too? It wasn't a fair fight, Tommy. My training made me dangerous." She looked so vulnerable and powerless, Tommy couldn't help but gathering her in his arms. As soon as his arms wrapped around her, she broke down. She let out heart-shattering sobs, and started rambling, most of which Tommy couldn't discern, until he focused.

"I killed him, Tommy. I didn't mean to, I swear I didn't mean to. I killed him, oh, god, I killed him. What did I _do_?" Tommy finally pulled away from her, looking down into her eyes.

"You saved a woman's life, Kimberly." His words didn't penetrate her mind, though. She just kept shaking her head, trembling from head to toe.

"I killed him. I murdered him."

"You _saved_ her, Kim! Don't you see that?"

"The w-w-wrong th-thing..." she trailed off as a fresh batch of tears fell unbidden down her face. She took a shuddering breath and restarted, the tears now falling silently. "The wrong thing done for the right reason is still the wrong thing, Tommy."

With this, she got up and started pacing the room, trying to stem the flow of tears. Tommy used this time to turn off the TV and take a good look at Kimberly. She was hurting, and she was so confused. She continued pacing for a few minutes before coming to a hault, and sitting down at the edge of the bed.

"I've screwed up everything in my life, Tommy." Her voice sounded hollow. "I've alienated my family, I've given up gymnastics, I _killed_ someone, and worst of all, I've thrown away us."

Tommy visibly stiffened at the mention of their former relationship, but reminded himself that this wasn't about _them_, it was about her. But still, he had to know. He needed closure.

"Speaking of, Kim..." He knelt before her. "Do you want me to call your boyfriend? Tell him you're okay?" His mouth dropped open as Kimberly let out a loud bark of laughter, which quickly culminated into a crying jag.

"I don't have a boyfriend, Tommy." She let out in between the tears.

"You two already broke up?" He was genuinely confused. Kim tossed away their relationship for someone who didn't even last a few months?

"No, you idiot. I haven't had a boyfriend since you." Kim wiped her eyes on her shirt and looked at him, willing him to understand.

"But you wrote..." A look of hurt crossed Tommy's face. "Why would you write it if it wasn't true, Kimberly?"

He had to admit that The Letter was very uncharacteristic of Kimberly. He knew that, and yet he had no idea what to do with that knowledge. Did he go after her, ask her if she meant it, if she even sent it? Or did he just sit back and accept the blatant rejection?

_Just between you and I_

_You and me and the satellites_

_I never believed you. I only wanted to._

_Before all this, what did I miss?_

_Do you ever get homesick?_

She took a deep breath. She hadn't wanted to delve into this, not now, not in the next couple of decades. She didn't think she would see Tommy in years at least, had everything gone according to plan at the Pan Globals. But, things were different now, and he deserved the truth.

"You know, I wrote everyone letters. You and Aisha, mostly, but I wrote everyone. They were like a little link to home, you know? I loved hearing about battles, and about Ernie, and about Bulk and Skull, even. Everyone said the team was doing great, but they missed me. They all said that Kat was great, really bringing the team together. Things were going good there, too, with the Pan Global training. And then, one day, my friend Jessica got kicked off the team. She had been trying to make a long distance relationship work and she couldn't devote the time she needed to to train." She hurried on at Tommy's darkened expression. "Please, don't think I broke up with you over _my_ gymnastics career. Our love was far more important to me than that. But, Aisha...she would always talk about how you missed me. How she thought it was cute if you were late to a battle because you were watching the Pan Globals on TV. But, all I could help to think was that _I_ was your distraction. And what you did was so so so much more important than anything I could ever do as a gymnast.

"So, I thought I should do the noble thing. I knew that I would never find another guy like you, or, hell, another _guy_, since I was surrounded by girls all the time, but you...you could have another chance at happiness. Happiness that didn't require pining away, watching me through a TV. And besides, I saw the way Kat looked at you before I left. She was going to be everything I couldn't be...so I did what you couldn't, Tommy." The words rang in his ears, eerily reminiscent of what Zordon had said to him a brief hour ago. "I gave up my happiness for the sake of...I don't know. The planet. Angel Grove. The other Rangers. I didn't want to be a distraction."

_I can't get used to this, I can't get used to this._

_I'll never get used to this, I'll never get used to this._

They sat in silence for a while, tears still streaking down Kim's face, Tommy looking blankly out into space. Tommy had understood what she was trying to accomplish, he really did. It dulled the pain in his chest, knowing that Kimberly still loved him, loved him so much that she was willing to do whatever it took to see him happy. But still, how could she just take _his_ happiness in her own hands?

He wanted to be angry, he really did. He wanted to yell and scream and ask her _how could she?_ but he couldn't find it in him. Anytime he'd open his mouth, he'd look up at the girl in front of him, crying so hopelessly, he just couldn't find it in him to be angry. She had done what she had honestly felt was right, and it was killing her inside. And then to go through what she was going through...with no one by her side, it was unfathomable to Tommy. Finally, he spoke.

"What now?"

Kim looked down at him, still kneeling before her, questions written all over his face.

"I don't know," she said through her tears. "Everything's different. I don't even have a home." Her voice had taken on a dull quality, as if it were hollow, with no emotion behind it.

"You always have a home in Angel Grove." Tommy said with conviction. He heard her harsh laughter once again.

_I'm under that night. I'm under those same stars._

_We're in a red car, you asleep by my side._

_Going in and out of the headlights_

_Could I have saved you? Would that have betrayed you?_

"I don't belong here."

"How can you say that? After everything we've been through, you don't think you belong with us?" Tommy was confused and frustrated with Kimberly.

"Tommy, come on. Be real. At the end of the day..." she swallowed thickly, "At the end of the day, you're a hero. And I'm a murderer." The word tasted bad in Kim's mouth. "I don't think I belong in your world anymore."

Tommy took a moment, gathering his thoughts. This was his last hope at getting Kimberly to understand him.

"Kim, listen to me, right now." He stood in front of her and waited until her eyes met his. "You are a hero." She scoffed. "You _are_. What do you think you are to the woman you saved? You keep talking about it like you killed an innocent man, Kim. Do you really think that he would have hesitated to kill you, or the other woman? He made a choice that night, and it was a bad one. And, yeah, to you, you made a bad decision. But what about the woman you saved? You made the best decision you could've. He wasn't Ernie. Ernie would never do that to another human being. The man you killed was _no one_. If you think that what you did changed everyone's opinions about you, you are right." Kim visibly stiffened. "You are now the bravest person I know."

Tommy knelt back down, putting his hands on Kim's shoulders.

"You shouldn't say that." She said, looking at him from lowered lashes. "I'm not brave. I was so scared and so stupid that I didn't even give a second thought about what I did. Please, don't make it sound any better than it really is."

"What you did was amazing, Kimberly. You sound like you keep expecting me to be mad at you, but...I could never."

"No!" Kim's voice rang out louder than it had, and she looked up at him sharply. "Tommy, I _killed a man!_ You're supposed to hate me!" She started struggling against him in earnest, trying to stand up, while his hands on her shoulders prevented her from doing so.

All of a sudden, Tommy understood what Zordon had meant. He knew exactly what he had to do, what Kimberly could not. He quickly gathered Kimberly in a hug, despite her struggling.

"No!" She yelled, muffled against his chest.

"It's okay, Kimberly. It's okay." Tommy soothed in her ear. "What you can't do, I will." He whispered, causing a brief lapse in Kim's struggle as she thought about what he could mean.

"I forgive you." He said it quietly, but it still carried the same weight of the word.

_I want to burn this film, you alone with those pills._

_What you couldn't do, I will._

_I forgive you._

At this, Kim started punching him, albeit slightly weaker than her full strength.

"No!" She yelled again, still struggling. "You can't!" She sobbed, as Tommy held on and tried to hold his own tears at bay.

"I forgive you," he repeated over and over again, just as quietly, and just as painful for Kimberly to hear.

"You can't, you can't, you can't," she said, sobbing as hard as ever, although it was taking a lot out of her. Her punches were becoming weaker and weaker, until she couldn't continue.

Tommy sat down on the floor, pulling Kimberly onto him. She straddled him, still cradled in his arms, her head buried in his shoulder. Tommy continued to do all that he could, which was to murmur how he forgave her.

"_I'm so sorry_," was all he could hear in between Kim's sobs. Tommy's heart clenched at this, and he let a few stray tears slip down his cheeks. He didn't know what to do. He wasn't used to seeing anyone, let alone Kimberly, this vulnerable and pained. So he sat there, rocking her slightly, whispering in her hair, careful to never let her go.

_I forgive you_

_I forgive you_

_For blue blue skies,_

_I forgive you_

_I forgive you_

_I forgive you._

-

He watched on the viewing globe, nodding in satisfaction. He felt a renewed sense of hope as he watched the reunion play out on the screen. His Falcon and his Crane, together again, with hope guiding their path.

_I forgive you._


End file.
